Scrolling through Facebook and seeing a pregnancy announcement can be brutal when you wish you had your own happy news to share. Just ask Spencer and Whitney Blake, who struggled to conceive for four years. To help others in the same situation, the Nampa, Idaho-based couple created tongue-in-cheek infertility announcements on their blog, parodying the the pregnancy ones seen on Facebook and Instagram. “Humor has always been one of our coping mechanisms,” Spencer tells Us Weekly.
Their spoofs have since been shared hundreds of thousands of times. One split image features a shot of a beaming Whitney standing in front of a BUMP AHEAD sign with both hands on her belly; in the other she looks distraught in front of a DEAD END sign.
The Good Morning Idaho news anchor and his wife, both 30, were diagnosed with “unexplained infertility” in 2011 after undergoing numerous tests and procedures. “The sorrow of infertility was absolutely crushing,” Whitney tells Us. “It used to be such a consuming part of my life….Between the daily doctors’ appointments, kits, pills, drugs and tests…between other people’s baby showers and pregnancy announcements…it’s kind of hard to forget, even when you’re trying not to dwell.”
Adding insult to injury: Whitney had to deal with insensitive — and unsolicited — advice. “Comments that were dismissive often hurt the most. Statements prefaced by ‘at least’ or ‘maybe you should’ were very grating,” she admits. “It always meant so much to us when someone would reach out and say, ‘I’m sorry you have had to go through this.’”
But the Blakes’ story has a happy ending. The pair adopted their first son in 2012 and another boy in 2014. The brothers are now ages 4 and 2. “There are times that I literally marvel that I get to be their mommy,” gushes Whitney. “Sometimes when I’m reading them stories all cuddled up on the couch, or when I’m kissing their cheeks as I tuck them in at night, I think, ‘There was a time when I didn’t think I could have this moment.’”
